Fun with Leaves.. A walk in the garden

I took a day off from work for some errands today and I managed to settle the stuff earlier than expected. Since the weather was nice and not too hot, I invited my duo to join me for a walk in the garden, and we picked some leaves and rocks along the way. 

Don't you just love the vibrant greens?

I then requested baby C to sort out the leaves by sizes, from smallest to largest. She happily obeyed as this was something new to her, and new is always fun.

Next we got a bowl of water and taught them the concept of weight and gravity, heavy and light.. Naturally only the rock sink... The duo were busy running around picking more leaves to see which float which doesn't. Good exercise for them to burn the energy.

I could have used a big bucket but it may be too messy (imagine water splashing every where!) and a bit dangerous if my girl starts playing with big bucket unsupervised. So, small bowl it is for now.

What did we do with the leaves later? I pad dried them and glued them onto a piece of paper with the help of my little captain, then I drew a big heart and called it the heart of life. He continued to draw all the tiny objects around the big heart and colored them. I quite like the final outcome despite it's really just a random piece of work.

A simple, relaxing afternoon with the little people I love, and I certainly hope they remember what they have learnt today. 

Guess we may do this again on weekend with our mini wadding pool this time... can't wait!

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Me & Mini Me: Super Simple Cowl Neck & Sweetheart Top #addicted-to-sewing#

Lately, I have slowed down on making baby dress for my princess C. Apart from the fact that work load has picked up, she has way too many clothes in her closet. Well, it's a closet shared by her and the little Captain, but her clothes occupied 2/3 of the space, and 90% of which are all mommy-made clothes. Ho Ho, that makes me feel good.

Anyway, I am selective on making dress for her now that the closet is running out of space. But for Mini Me series, I will always make space for it!

I found some stretchable jersey fabric recently and decided to make some pants for baby C. That 1.5 yard of fabric has been put into full used and I'll show you why. 

The super simple Cowl Neck Tops for mommy & mini me. I saw a picture of a similar design when I was browsing at night and just started cutting the fabric right away. No pattern, pure instinct-driven. :)

My little girl roaming happily in her new top and a matching heart shape jeans.

I can even wear my cowl top for work. Bonus!

My baby C get a special pink tulle heart from mommy, hence the name, Sweetheart Top. I just cut 4 layers of the pink tulle, pink them onto the fabric and sew along the heart shape. No hemming required.

I also made a matching little pants for my girl with a simple pattern I have drafted (since I planned to make a lot of these to match her dresses). When I have the time I promise I'll share the tutorial. It's really a 15 minutes project, suitable for beginner.

Love the fabric, it's so light and airy, I hardly sweat even when getting outdoor with the duo. I shall buy more in different colors to make more tops and dresses for myself :)

  I simply love designing & sewing my own fashion. Anyone out there who too are addicted to sewing like me? (hands up please!)



Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A Date with Madam Teoh Poh Yew 我与宝幼有约

My good friend, Carol Yap, who is an experienced educator and the founder of Teacher Yap Creative Reading Programme，叶老师创意课程，had strongly recommended Poh Yew's class to me since some times back. She always emphasized that her talk is life changing and eye opening. I trusted her words but it is only until last weekend that I finally managed to attend an 4 hour talk by Poh Yew, arranged by Life Changing Xperience, a talk on:

How to Raise Happy & Super Creative Kids

If you have being following my blog, you would know that I am a determined parent who is advocate to coaching my kids through FUN & CREATIVE learning, I would not hesitate to let my hair down for some real quality & fun time with my kiddos (they really grow too fast that sometimes I wish I can halt the time..)

Poh Yew's talk was hitting all the right spots for me.

It was truly an inspiring and touching session. While most of the information she shared may be something I've learnt through parenting books or website,  it was the manner of presentation, her broad personal experience and passion that truly created an impact. Passion is influential, and passion is what that ignites action and creates results.


Let me share some of the key points that I learnt and truly agree from her talk (mixed with my interpretation as I was really just scribing):

• Enlarge the strenght & good points,not the weakness (放大孩子的长处）. What our kids need at the growing age are really love and encouragement, not someone who always find fault in them or comparing them with others. Like Poh Yew said, if we guide our kids like how we guide them to walk when they were toddlers, they will never fail in anything they do. I love this motto. Why is it a big deal if the child does not score 100% in his exam? Most importantly he exhibits ability to understand, to apply the knowledge; not just to score A.

• Do Not reward your kids for getting good grades （别把奖励当鼓励),  it is like motivating the donkey with a carrot hanging over its forehead. Once the carrot is removed, the donkey losses its direction / goals. Instead, inspire the child to have a vision, or a goal, let them find the motive to want to do it and not "bribing" them into doing good. She shared the example where, she did not reward her kids for scoring As, instead she emphasizes the importance of how a good degree can help in getting a right job. So the kids knew they have to learn & study for their future, not for the short term reward.

• No Child wants to be bad, everyone wants to be loved and be good （没人天生要当坏小孩，每个孩子都渴望学好、被疼）. If the kid constantly does something that is perceived as bad or naughty, try to understanding and help him or her to do it right, or hear them out. Perhaps it's just a message that he wants more of your attention? Somehow Calvin and Hobbs appeared in my mind, they were always up to mischief but those really were just a child's way to explore the world... Somehow I was awed by Calvin's creative imagination and super curious attitude.

• There is no child that cannot be taught, it is only our inability to teach （没有不能教的孩子，只有不会教的父母）. She pointed out the flaw in our education system where all children are measured with exam scores, in which exam shall be used to gauge a kid's learning milestones and NOT to judge how smart a kid is. Albeit Einstein aptly said this long ago...

爱因斯坦曰，“每个人天生是天才。但如果你用爬树能力来测验鱼的能力，它将一辈子相信自己是蠢材。”

• Be Creative! there is no one method that suits all  （运用创意教学，让学习变有趣）(hey, isn't this my motto! *wink*). If we have been teaching the kid the same way and he still cannot understand, don't blame the kids or get angry, instead just learn to be creative and think of explaining in a manner that our kids can understand. If the child can only understand 20% of the things taught, he/she would probably loses interest and  confident in learning; however if he knows 80% of the content his confident & participation level will certainly increase.  So a creative teacher / parent shall adjust the teaching method and materials accordingly to encourage the children to learn more effectively. Again, Einstein understood this logic long ago and hence he's famous quote..

爱因斯坦曰，“何谓疯狂？反复重复一样的方式，却期待不一样的效果。”

One final take away for me from this seminar from personal observation..

If you do something that you truly love & believe, 
it reflects in your action & shows on your face, 
and that creates power to INFLUENCE.

So you want to have happy children? Begin by being a happy parent yourself, now.

Despite all the tenacity that she had been through (check out her biography and you would know what I meant), Poh Yew still managed to maintain her positive attitude, professionalism and continue to spread her believe and knowledge to all the people who cares to learn more... and with a sincere smile. All parents in that room walked away feeling recharged and inspired that day, I believe largely was due to her positive spirit.

If you are already a positive parent with creative kids, this talk will re-affirm your believe and injects new ideas; if you feel like there is more room to improve on your parent-child relationship or need more info on how to couch your kids, then this talk will definitely be beneficial to you. So I hope I have convinced you why Poh Yew's talk is really powerful for any parents. I have yet to attend her full day course but I will certainly find time to go.


Interested?  You may find out more information on the courses here, and you may check out on her biography here.



* updated *

During the talk Poh Yew shared a lot of examples and advises on how she handled specific situation, but to be fair I would think you should attend her talk to find out more instead of me spilling out all the beans here. It's always better to hear it from the guru!


Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

7 Fun Indoor Activities for the Little Ones

Trapped at home on a rainy morning or hot afternoon with energetic kids? Here are some activities you can do to keep the little ones occupied without messing around and without.using.any.eletrocnic.gadget. These are tested and proven with my duo who seem to be powered by super charged dynamos that last forever. (Thanks to that I managed to loose all the extra weight put up during my both pregnancies!)

Hide 'n Seek

This is one universal game that is suitable for nearly all ages and almost all kids love it.

When my little girl was still a crawling baby, I would hide behind the curtain or underneath the blanket for her to find me. She will hunt for me with a happy "boo!" or "pee-ka-boo!" sound whenever she found me. Now that they are older and can run around freely, we play the real hide 'n seek around the house. The seeker has to close the eyes while counting from 1 to 10, and the rest have to find a hiding spot. I usually take my own sweet time to count as slow as possible when I need to catch a break, and trust me, finding them is not that difficult, but they love it when I pretend to look high and low, I can hear them giggling behind the door, between the curtains, under table and just can't wait to be found.

Kids love it... and the mommy too!

Infinite Doodling (well, almost..)

All you need is a large roll of paper and some crayons or color pencils, and that's enough to keep your little ones entertained for as long as they can draw! When friends came over to visit, I rolled out the paper and gave each kids few crayons, they just sat around the roll and let their creativity flow wild.

Don't throw away the paper after drawing. Turn them to the reverse side and more doodling to go! Even after recycling, don't throw it away! Take some times to admire their artwork and let them explain to you what they have drawn. Although my Captain E is drawing stickman most of the time, his attention to detail and motion illustration has improved vastly since I first introduced him to drawing.

You can get the giant roll from IKEA for only RM19.90. I even used these paper for my dress pattern cutting, how convenient!

Word Hunt or Letter Hunt

I kept the alphabet and number magnets we bought from Toy 'R Us in small buckets. When the duo are bored, we just randomly select some magnets and place them onto a baking pan (choose one with a raise edge so the letters won't fall out), the sibling gets 1 pan each. I then give my boy a challenge to hunt the word in the fastest time. For my baby C, I just asked her to find me the letter instead. 

I gave little captain idea on how to play by just changing, throwing or adding 1 letter at a time, he likes this so much as it's like a magic to him. Just imagine from pan -> pen -> hen -> ten -> then....  Soon he just happily spell out more and more words by himself. Indirectly I tricked him into practicing his spelling without him even realising he is learning. (evil mommy I know... but learning the fun way is most effective!)

Word Hunt in action....

Made it with Play-Doh

My duo are crazy about playdoh, this is the one toy that they can freely roll, cut, stamp, build anyway and make into anything they like.

I usually give them a place mat each to work on their playdoh and after playing they will have to clean up after their own mess. To spice up the fun, give them some accessories like pom pom, giggling eyes etc, just watch and see what they create. 

Checkout how to prepare your own cheap & safe homemade playdoh here.

Pretended Cooking Time (aka Masak-Masak)

Some how young toddlers like to do grown-up stuff, it makes them feel good about themselves and sense of achievement. I keep a bag of the cooking toys, cutlery, wooden cut vegetables and a self-made stove using cardboard. My duo can play cooking as I prepare meal, and it is another ideal game when little children get-together. I had 3 girls busy cooking and serving up "food" while the mommies were happily chatting.

And says who that boys cannot play with masak-masak? Learning to cook is an essential living skill that any teenagers should learn as the first step towards independence. So it's really no excuse that boys shouldn't cook.

Check out this little cardboard stove we made sometimes back using a modem cardboard box.. absolutely zero cost.

Lego Fun!

Lego... Duplo... Expensive as they may be, they are ideal to instill endless possible creations with these little blocks. Give the duo a platform each and they can build me wonders... or nonsense. But so long they had fun, why not? 

Here's the Laputa (City in the sky) that we built together on one lazy Sunday. You can check out other Lego creations here, here or oppss, another post is still under construction.

Secret Box 

When all attempt failed, this is my final weapon.. the Secret Box!!! I prepared loads of square cut papers, wrote a mission on each of them and draw some cute drawing on the other side then toss them all in a box (noticed the cute dino? pardon my amateur drawing skill....). I let the kiddo pick one card each and they have to execute their secret mission stated on the card. I gave them simple mission so it's within their ability, for example:

• Treasure hunt... find me a green truck / little puppy in the house!

• Sing a Song / Do a Dance... sing twinkle twinkle little star super fast, or what about do a robot dance? They learnt that from Hi-5.

• Random math question.. when 2 cats met 2 dogs, how many animals are there? You have 5 apples but papa ate 2, how many more apple left?

• Silly riddle... I have 4 wheels 4 doors and I move around in a vroom vroom noise. What am I?

The kiddos looooooove this game as they do not know what to expect and they love the surprises. This game never failed to save my day especially when I needed a rest badly.

Need More Idea?

Indeed there are other indoor activities that you can consider, like painting with vegetables, water color painting,  story time, making a snake with toilet rolls, making paper cut art, making shoe box dollhouse, more card box craft or even growing a plant?But such activities are depending or individual so choose according to your kiddo's liking. These are the activities that my little ones really love but only you know your kiddos best. *wink*

That's all. They may be simple activities but sufficient to bring endless joy to the little ones and there is really no reason they shall complain staying home is boring. Feel free to give your comment here as I truly appreciate idea sharing!

Happy parenting!

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

{Charity} A Visit to IQ70 Plus, Give Back Time

It was a bright sunny Sunday when we visited IQ70 Plus, 建安家福, a home currently houses 30 over special need children and individuals with intellectual disability, from as young as 5 to 49 years old.

My friends and I, over 20 of us, gathered a pool of money, purchased some daily necessity after contacting the center and 5 of us visited the center to deliver the donated goods and a cheque. It was my first time visiting a mentally handicapped center and I was a bit uncertain of what to expect, so big guy and I decided to leave the kiddos at home. I'm glad I did as the condition of the kids can be quite saddening and may be too much for my little boy to understand.

We were greeted by Eric, one of the volunteers who worked at the center to help daily operation and chauffeuring the kids to the nearby University Malaya hospital for their weekly physiotherapy session and checkups, and a young lady assistant (I forgot her name..) who too worked there on voluntary basis to manage the general account and admin matters. Both were really friendly and helpful and I'm glad we have big heart volunteers like them to offer their time & effort for the needy.

You can easily spot the building from the main road. 

We were given a tour to the center which is actually an old single storey bungalow nested along the main street of Jalan Gasing. We managed to speak with the founder, Mr Chang Ming Kiet，郑明杰先生, who gave us a deeper insight about the kids in this center.

Most of the kids there were abandoned by their family. Some born with genetic disorder, some were due to negligence during the growing age (e.g. brain damage due to prolonged high fever). Too many sad stories that made me felt heavy to breath, like how a normal kid lost his ability to speak and live a normal life after witnessing his late mother committed suicide in front of him when he was a toddler; how a 6 yo, born prematurely on the 6th months of pregnancy, were left behind by the mom after knowing he has mental disability; how a young girl with down syndrome was left behind to live alone with the 70+ yo grandmother when the Thai nationality mom returned to her home country.. and the list goes on.

The 6yo Jia Cheng， 家成(译), laughed so happily when I padded his head softly, and when Mr Chan called out his name he chuckled and waved his hands in excitement. He may not be able to speak like a normal 6yo but he can feel, hear and express his emotion clearly. Jia Cheng is currently undergoing physiotherapy, hopefully one day he can sit and walk like a normal kid. 

Only about 20% of the inhabitants at the center are considered severe impaired, while quite a number are considered at the borderline, they are able to take care of themselves and help up with simple chores. 

Deep inside I felt sorry for these kids, but at the same time I saw hope in some of the younger ones who may have a chance to get better and live a normal life. Especially when they are under care of such a loving man who spoke of them like they are his own children and trying to give them the proper equipment and medical care they needed. From our conversation we can feel Mr Chan is genuinely for these kids and is proud of their progress. 

When asked what made him started this center 2 years ago, we were told this center was setup in memory of his late son, 建安, who too, was a special kid and passed away when he was a toddler. Mr Chan started the center with own funding with the intention to provide shelter for 10 kids, however as more kids were sent to their center over the time (one parent just dropped her poor kid at the center and left silently!), he needed additional funding to ensure continuity of the operations and purchase necessary medical equipment for some of the kids.

From our observation, the center was clean, bright and in a well maintained state. Most of the kids we met there seemed happy, free to roam around (for those with ability to walk), clean and properly dressed.

The founder, the man with a big heart.

The center is bright and clean.

The groceries delivered to the center, plus some children clothing and soft toys not in pic. I have never met half of the donors and I truly thank them for entrusting a stranger who just happened to share a common friend 

Contact them to know more and render help if you may. The kids will probably be staying there for a long long time so the center will certainly need monetary aid to run the center and continue providing food, shelter and medical care for them.

Important Note: Do not bring toys that may caused unnecessary danger to the special kids. For milk powder / baby cereals there are few brands that are accepted by the center. Besides, as most of the required items are daily consumable the demand may differ from time to time depending on usage, please speak to the center admin to understand what is really needed before visiting. 

Donation items required / 需要的物品 (as published on IQ70 Plus website):

食物 Food 1. 白米 Rice 2. 米粉 Meehoon 3. 美禄 Milo 4. 麦片 Nestum Oats 5. 牛奶粉 Milk Powder 6. 玉米片 Cornflakes 7. 炼乳 Condensed Milk 8. 果酱/牛油 Jam/Butter 9. 饼干 Biscuits 10. 鸡蛋/蔬菜 Eggs & Vegetables 11. 鲜牛奶 Fresh Milk 12. 罐头食品 Canned Food 13. 快熟面 Instant Noodles 14. 面包 Bread 15. 咖啡 Nescafe/Kopi 16. 果汁 Fruit juice (pack) 日常用品 Daily Items             1. 厕纸 Toilet Paper 2. 洗碗剂 Dish Washer 3. 洗衣液 Detergent Dynamo 4. 地板清洁剂 Floor Detergent 5. 牙膏 Toothpaste 6. 牙刷 Tooth Brush 7. 垃圾袋 Rubbish Bag 8. 消毒水 Dettol (toilet/floor) 9. 扫把 Broom 10. 漂白水 Bleech 11. 拖把 Mop 12. 手套 Gloves 13. 蚊油 Shieldtox (mosquito) 14. 电池 Battery 15. 风扇 Fan 16. 床 Bed 17. 书架 Book Rack 18. 读书桌子 Study Table 婴儿用品 Baby Item 1. 婴儿爽身粉 Baby Powder 2. 婴儿润肤霜 Baby Lotion 3. 婴儿湿纸巾 Baby Wet Wipes Tissue 4. 成人/婴儿沐浴露 Baby/Adult Bath 5. 婴儿尿片 Baby Diaper 6. 成人尿片（中等尺寸或以上）Adult Diaper (Size M & Above) 7. 婴儿饼干 Farley Rusk (baby biscuit) 8. 婴儿油 Baby Oil 9. 退热贴 cool Fever 调味品 Seasoning        1. 食油 Cooking Oil 2. 盐 Salt 3. 糖 Sugar 4. 辣椒酱 Chili Sauce 5. 番茄酱 Tomato Sauce 6. 生抽 Light Soy Sauce 7. 黑酱油 Cooking Caramel 8. 耗油 Oyster Sauce

Contact:

Persatuan Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Terencat Akal Malaysia

Malaysian Association for The Welfare of Mentally Challenged Children

No.118, Jalan Gasing, 46000 Petaling Jaya Selangor.

电话 Tel: 03-7960 8003

传真 Fax: 03-7960 8005
电邮 E-mail: info@iq70plus.org

Website: http://www.iq70plus.org

Just a final note...

When we returned home after the visit, the duo ran forward to gave us big welcoming hugs. Starring at their happy faces and feeling their firm hugs made me realised how fortunate I am just to be able to be with them, care for them and run freely with them. So what they mess around sometimes? So what they refuse to sleep in early and causing me lack of sleep? I am already the luckiest person with whatever I have today.

All children are God gift and let's love them with all our hearts.

Let's Pass the love around. 

* Update *

I am so excited as I received personal message that some friends had visited the center or pulled collections to help the center after reading the post. Thanks for reading & for sharing your love with the needy one. God bless!

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Little Red Dress for my Bunny Girl {CNY Special} 自制新年小红裙

I though I would  not be sewing during this CNY period, as we are away from our home for days to visit the in law and my parents and I'm not crazy enough to bring my machine with me. But some how, the crafty bugs got onto me and I just could not resist the idea of making just one new dress for my little bunny when I saw how much she likes her little Hello Kitty in red hood.

So I made her this little red dress, using leftover satin fabric and cotton lining at my in law's; thanks to my sister in law's Singer.

Smooth satin red with golden belt, looking stunning under the sun.

The back, with a big golden bow.

This was a really a spontaneous craft, no pattern no measurement, and I'm glad it works out well and no fabric wasted.

I would have made her a matching hood, just like the kitty, or the real Little Red Riding Hood, but with our kind of super hot weather all year long, I guess we'll hardly get to wear the hood on for her and end up collecting dust in the closet. So, let's forget about it (for now).

Noticed the matching gold button too?

I made the button using the toolkit I bought from Daiso, the popular 5 Dollar Shop, and I must say its a good choice. I have a perfectly matching button with the dress, yay!

This is the toolkit I used.

This is the little Hello Kitty who inspired me. I skipped the apron, since satin fabric is not exactly ideal for making apron, and the bow too, thought it's not too matching with this design.. And I turned the button to the back. It looks totally different now huh *laugh*, I shall make another one with cotton fabric next time.

Can't wait to put this dress on my little bunny girl, this will be her surprise when she wakes up... 

Alright, time to get ready for our visit to my hometown. 

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone who celebrates this auspicious spring festival, where families get together, little children get to collect lots of red packets and  crafty bugs continue to be fed. *grin*

I'm addicted to sewing, I know. And I'm not seeking treatment. LOL.

Happy crafting!

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.